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Themes and Topics of Research in Marketing: A Content Analysis of the Articles

Published in Three Marketing Journals

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http://ijba.sciedupress.com International Journal of Business Administration Vol. 7, No. 1; 2016

Themes and Topics of Research in Marketing: A Content Analysis of the

Articles Published in Three Marketing Journals
Mahmoud Abdel Hamid Saleh1
1
Department of Marketing, College of Business Administration, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Correspondence: Mahmoud Abdel Hamid Saleh, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marketing, Department of Marketing,
College of Business Administration, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Tel: 966-59-646-2433.

Received: November 24, 2015 Accepted: December 8, 2015 Online Published: January 4, 2016
doi:10.5430/ijba.v7n1p12 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/ijba.v7n1p12

Abstract
This study aimed at classifying the themes of marketing in the articles published in three top journals in the field of
marketing from 2010 to 2014. At the same time, the study aimed at identifying the researchers’ interest and topics in
each theme. The study findings demonstrated that the Journal of Marketing Research has got a share of 39% of the
total published articles of those three journals, compared to 35% for the Marketing Science journal, and 26% for the
Journal of Marketing. With respect to the research themes, extensive interest has been given to consumer behavior at
22%, e-marketing at 10%, advertising at 7%, promotion and pricing at 7% each, product development at 5%, and
marketing management at 4%. The study also concluded the researchers’ negligence of important themes in
marketing theory, such as: marketing ethics, international marketing, social responsibility, service marketing,
competitive analysis, and customer relationship management. Moreover, The study found that each of the three
journals has extensively published on some specific themes compared to the other two journals. The journal of
Marketing Science has published more articles on e-marketing, channels of distribution, competitive analysis, and
marketing ethics. The Journal of Marketing has published more articles on branding, sales and sales management,
value creation, services and service quality, customer relationship management, international marketing, social
responsibility, and customer loyalty. The Journal of Marketing Research has published more articles on consumer
behavior, branding, pricing, retailing, and customer satisfaction.
Keywords: marketing, research, themes, topics, content, analysis, articles, trend
1. Introduction
The trends of the research in marketing are changing with the change of business environment. Therefore, it is
important to have a continuous overall content analysis of the published articles on marketing in order to know what
is going on in research concerning the business world. This type of analysis enables marketing researchers to follow
up the chain of development in marketing theory and practice, and the interrelationship between them. This sort of
integration and generalization of marketing theory and empirical research, past and present, are considered the
building blocks for marketing science (Bass & Wind, 1995). Empirical generalizations in different themes are
necessary to arrive at laws of marketing (Burgess and Steenkamp, 2006) and for future development as well. That is,
as Weidmann et al. (2011) mentioned: “the more complex the marketer’s world gets, the more we have to understand
the underlying trends which mark the direction of future developments”.
The present study focused on published articles in three of the highly-ranked journals in marketing, they are: Journal
of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, and Journal of Marketing. The study is an extension of a previous
research done by Haji-Basri (2012) who studied the marketing research contemporary themes and trends between
2000 and 2009 in the same three journals.
The current study is basically directed to academicians in the field of marketing. The main objective of this study is
to investigate what the major themes of marketing were manipulated by the authors during the period 2010-2014. It
gives academic researchers a view of what the unfortunate themes and topics in marketing are. This may stir the
researchers’ curiosity to do research on these neglected topics. The proportions of the themes at the journal level may
also unveil the needed themes and topics for future research.

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Concisely, this study gives answers to questions regarding what is published in three highly ranked journals in the
field of marketing. First, what are the main themes that the researchers have given interest to during the period from
2010 to 2014, and what are the proportions of them? Second, what are the comparative proportions of the marketing
themes on the level of a marketing journal (horizontal analysis)? Third, What are the proportions of these themes on
the level of each single journal (vertical analysis)? Fourth, what are the main topics that have been manipulated in
each of the marketing themes?
2. Previous Research
In addition to the main reference of this study (Haji-Basri, 2012). Other researchers have followed the content
analysis approach in analyzing the articles in marketing journals. Lehmann et al. (2011) has investigated the level of
analytical rigor and relevance in the articles of four academic journals between 2005 and 2009. The investigated
journals were: Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, and Marketing
Science. The study concluded the overemphasis of rigor in research in marketing. Consequently, relevance,
communicability, and simplicity characteristics have been downplayed.
Yadav (2010) analyzed the articles published over 30 years between 1987 and 2007 in four major marketing journals:
Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Science, and Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science. Investigating the conceptual articles, The researcher has concluded that conceptual articles in
marketing journals are declining as a whole.
Dahlstorm et al. (2008) investigated marketing articles that were published between the years 1986 and 1990, and the
years between1996 and 2000 in two journals in the field of marketing: Journal of Marketing and Journal of
Marketing research. The study presented diversity as a procedure to examine the likelihood that research in
marketing contributes to the theory and practice. It provided a conceptual framework of diversity among strategies,
measures, and methods employed in marketing research.
Moreover, in a content analysis of 1,195 articles published in three prominent marketing journals between 1993 and
2002, Hanson and Grimmer (2007) found that 46.3% of the published articles have used quantitative research
methods, while 24.8% employed qualitative research methods.
With respect to the themes of marketing, Yoo et al. (2011) investigated the hospitality marketing research between
2000 and 2008 in four hospitality Journals: Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, International Journal of Hospitality
Management, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism research, and International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management. The findings revealed the researchers’ interest of specific themes, they are: consumer behavior, market
segmentation, targeting, positioning, marketing strategies, marketing management, marketing performance, pricing,
revenue, and yield management.
On the same line, Line & Runyan (2011) have reviewed the hospitality marketing research published in four top
hospitality journal from 2008 to 2010. The purpose of this review was to identify trends and gaps in the literature of
hospitality marketing research. The article analyzed the previous research based on research topics, industry focus,
and analysis techniques. The study findings demonstrated that the vast majority of recent marketing hospitality
research is geared towards the function of marketing or its environment.
An analysis of 250 articles from three major journals (Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, European Journal of
Marketing) published between 2007 and 2009 identified 12 key marketing themes, they are: branding, retail and
distribution, consumer behavior, marketing research, sales, Internet, marketing strategy, communication, customer
satisfaction, product services, and others (Collesei et al., 2010).
Similarly, Haji-Basri (2012) has classified the marketing themes into 21 themes: consumer behavior, management
and planning, pricing, marketing function and strategy, new product development, branding, electronic marketing
and information technology, research methodology, theory and philosophy of science, advertising, sales
(promotion/management), distribution, customer satisfaction; legal, political, and economic issues; ethics and scocal
responsibility, services, loyalty, value creation, retailing, international and comperative.
3. Methodology
The study relied on three global highly-ranked journals of marketing which are: Journal of Marketing, Journal of
Marketing Research, and Marketing Science. The investigated articles are that those have been published in the three
journals between the years 2010 and 2014.

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The researcher has adopted the content analysis approach to investigate the themes and the topics of marketing in the
selected marketing journals. In essence, the analysis has depended on the article title and abstract to identify the
article topic and in which theme it should be included.
The marketing themes in this study has been classified into 22 themes which are near the classification of Haji-Basri
(2012) with some modifications. The researcher browsed the articles one by one to identify two things: the topic of
the article, and the theme in which to be included.
Accordingly, the researcher counted the frequencies of each theme in each journal, as well as identified the topics in
each theme. Statistics are analyzed in 5 parts. First, the overall proportions of the journal’s share of publications as
well as in each theme. Second, the overall proportions of marketing themes in the three journals. Third, a
comparative analysis of the marketing themes among the journals. Fourth, a vertical comparison of the themes on the
level of each single journal. At the end, the researcher has set a table that included the main marketing topics of the
articles in each theme. This is of high importance for the researchers to have a quick knowledge on the marketing
topics that have been investigated as a base for research planning.
4. Proportions of the Marketing Themes on a Theme Level
Table (1) shows the proportions of articles on the three journals and of marketing themes that have been investigated
between 2010 and 2014. The number of themes is 22 major themes. These themes reflect the researchers’ specific
interest in the field of marketing. The table shows the horizontal analysis on the theme level. Some important
findings of this table are as follows:
a. Initially, the Journal of Marketing Research has got the highest share of the total articles that have been
published between 2010 and 2014 at a percentage of 39%, then, the journal of Marketing Science at 35%,
and the Journal of Marketing at 26%.
b. Consumer behavior theme has got the highest proportion of researchers’ interest, representing 22% of the
marketing articles on all the marketing themes. On the journal level, the Journal of Marketing Research’s
share in this theme accounted for 55%, while the journal of Marketing Science accounted for 23%, and the
Journal of Marketing accounted for 22%. This reflects the researchers’ interest in consumer behavior
research. However, this is relatively normal if we take into account that consumer behavior research is a
base for setting marketing program and strategies.
c. The articles published in the e-marketing theme accounted for 10% of all the published articles in the three
journals. The Marketing Science journal has got the highest proportion which accounted for 58% of the
published articles, while, it is accounted for 21% in each of the Journal of Marketing Research and the
Journal of Marketing. This may reflect the interest of the Marketing Science journal to cope with the new
wave in marketing compared to the other two journals.
d. Research on the advertising theme has got only 7% of all the articles published in the three marketing
journals. The Journal of Marketing Research has had the highest proportion in this theme at 48% of the
published articles, then comes journal of Marketing Science at 39%, and the Journal of Marketing at 13%.
This may reflect the interests of the Journal of Marketing Research and Marketing Science journal to
advertising theme compared to the other two journals.
e. Branding articles represented 7% of all the published articles in the three journals. This is really surprising,
taking into account the role of branding both in marketing theory and successful marketing practices. The
Journal of Marketing has had the highest share at 43%, then, the Journal of Marketing Research at 35%, and
the journal of Marketing Science at 22%.
f. The articles that investigated research methods in marketing accounted for 7% of published articles in the
three journals. The Marketing Science journal has had the highest proportion of 58% of the published
articles, then comes the Journal of Marketing Research at 42%. However, it seems that the Journal of
Marketing does not pay too much attention of such a theme.
g. Promotion theme has been paid a relatively balanced attention among the three journals. The articles on this
theme ranged between 31% and 35%. Conversely, pricing theme has been paying more attention in both the
Journal of Marketing Research and the journal of Marketing Science at 44% and 42% respectively. While it
accounted for only 14% in the Journal of Marketing.
h. It could be noted that Some themes represented weak proportions such as: marketing ethics, customer
loyalty, social responsibility, international marketing, customer relationship management, services and

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service quality. Each of these themes has got a share of 1% only. Other themes have got a little better share
of 2% per each, they are: Sales and salesmanship, retailing, channels of distribution, value creation, and
customer satisfaction. The weak representation of all these themes could be attributed to the previous
research that has been extensively done on them for decades ago.
i. Generally, each of the three journals has extensively published articles on some specific themes compared
to the other two journals. The journal of Marketing Science has published more articles in e-marketing,
channels of distribution, competitive analysis, and marketing ethics. The Journal of marketing has published
more articles on branding, sales and sales management, value creation, services and service quality,
customer relationship management, international marketing, social responsibility, and customer loyalty. The
Journal of Marketing Research has published more articles on consumer behavior, branding, pricing,
retailing, and customer satisfaction.

Table 1. Overall proportions of marketing themes (Horizontal analysis on the theme level)
Marketing Journal of Journal of Total
Ser. Themes Marketing
Science Marketing
research
1 Consumer behavior 23% 22% 55% 22%
2 e-marketing 58% 21% 21% 10%
3 Advertising 39% 13% 48% 7%
4 Branding 22% 43% 35% 7%
5 Research methods 58% 0% 42% 7%
6 Promotion 33% 31% 35% 7%
7 Pricing 42% 14% 44% 7%
8 Product development 38% 25% 38% 5%
9 Marketing management 30% 33% 37% 4%
10 Sales and sales management 17% 44% 39% 2%
11 Retailing 33% 22% 44% 2%
12 Channels of distribution 50% 31% 19% 2%
13 Value creation 25% 50% 25% 2%
14 Customer satisfaction 29% 29% 43% 2%
15 Services and service quality 18% 64% 18% 1%
16 Competitive analysis 91% 0% 9% 1%
17 Customer relationship 10% 90% 0% 1%
18 International marketing 11% 56% 33% 1%
19 Social responsibility 0% 75% 25% 1%
20 Customer loyalty 17% 50% 33% 1%
21 Marketing ethics 50% 25% 25% 1%
22 Others 30% 35% 35% 6%
Total 35% 26% 39% 100%

5. Proportions of the Marketing Themes on a Journal Level

Table (2) shows marketing themes of the published articles in each of the three marketing journals. The table was
analyzed vertically to make a type of comparison among the proportions in each journal to present the relative
importance of the marketing themes. The main findings of this analysis are as follows:
a. e-marketing articles represented the highest relative importance theme of the Marketing Science journal at 17%,
then consumer behavior at 15%, research methods at 12%, advertising at 8%, and pricing at 8%. Those five
themes represented about 60% of all articles in the 22 themes in this journal. Some themes represented a weak

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proportion such as: marketing ethics, customer loyalty, social responsibility, international marketing, customer
relationship management, services, and service quality.
b. Consumer behavior articles represented the highest relative importance theme in Journal of Marketing at 18%,
then branding at 11%, e-marketing at 8%, promotion at 8%, product development at 5%, and customer
relationship management at 4%. Those six themes represented about 55% of all articles in the 22 themes in the
journal. Some themes represented weak proportions such as: marketing ethics, competitive analysis, research
methods, and customer loyalty. But, the Journal of marketing seems relatively balanced in themes proportions
compared with the other two journals.
c. Consumer behavior articles represented the highest relative importance theme in Journal of Marketing
Research at 32%, then advertising at 9%, research methods at 7%, pricing at 7%, branding at 6%, promotion at
6%, e-marketing at 5%, and product development at 5%. Those eight themes represented about 77% of articles
in all the 22 themes. Some themes represented weak proportions in this journal such as: marketing ethics,
social responsibility, customer loyalty, international marketing, customer relationship management,
competitive analysis, service and service quality, value creation, and channels of distribution.

Table 2. Overall proportions of marketing themes (Vertical analysis on the journal level)

Marketing Journal of Journal of

Ser. Themes Marketing
Science Marketing
research
1 Consumer behavior 15% 18% 32%
2 e-marketing 17% 8% 5%
3 Advertising 8% 3% 9%
4 Branding 5% 11% 6%
5 Research methods 12% 0% 7%
6 Promotion 6% 8% 6%
7 Pricing 8% 3% 7%
8 Product development 6% 5% 5%
9 Marketing management 3% 4% 3%
10 Sales and sales management 1% 4% 2%
11 Retailing 2% 2% 3%
12 Channels of distribution 3% 2% 1%
13 Value creation 2% 4% 1%
14 Customer satisfaction 2% 2% 2%
15 Services and service quality 1% 3% 1%
16 Competitive analysis 4% 0% 0%
17 Customer relationship management 0% 4% 0%
18 International marketing 0% 2% 1%
19 Social responsibility 0% 3% 1%
20 Customer loyalty 0% 1% 1%
21 Marketing ethics 1% 0% 0%
22 Others 5% 8% 5%
Total 100% 100% 100%
 
6. Topics of Marketing in Each Theme
Table (3) shows the main topics that were manipulated in each marketing theme in the published articles in the three
marketing journals between 2010 and 2014. The table shows a diversity of topics the researchers manipulated in each
theme. Extensive research has been done in some themes, especially in consumer behavior, e-marketing, advertising,
research methods, and product development.

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Table 3. Research topics in marketing themes

Ser Themes Topics
1 Consumer Consumer rate of saturation – willingness to pay – choice and decision process – activity
behavior consumption – customer preferences – effect of negative emotion – complaining behavior –
post-purchase consumption – discrimination consumers – saving behavior – perceived velocity
– effect of credit card on spending – consumer’s trust – consumer’s relaxation and monetary
evaluation of the products – effect of word-of-mouth – consumer learning and switching cost –
influence of fiends in consumer spending – consumer responsiveness to peer recommendations
– consumer imagination - multiattributre preferences – portion size and consumption –
Consumer adoption of new products – effect of samples on choice – consumer’s taste
perceptions- customer’s package size impressions – ethnography and market learning – social
influence on product rating – post purchase regret – older consumers buy older brands –
consumer learning – consumer’s death – brand switching – customer community participation –
observational learning.
2 e-marketing Online word-of-mouth – banner advertising – online freelance marketplace – choice
interdependence on social networks – online point-of-purchase behavior – online display
advertising – image related utility in social media – social media marketing – online product
opinions – online user generated content – digital rights management – google search
advertising – online auctions – digital distribution – online user review – Internet media
selection –viral marketing – online retailers –online agents – digital channels – word-of-mouth
marketing – multiple relationships in social networks – online product rating forums – online
social interactions – mapping online customer search – search on the Internet – online retailers.
3 Advertising Marketing orientation in advertising – online advertising – advertising and consumer awareness
– how advertising grows sales – dynamic effectiveness of advertising – deceptive advertising –
fear appeals in advertising – video advertisement – advertising budgets – online advertising
markets – advertising strategies – recognition tests in advertising – informative advertising –
consumer generated ads – consumer advertising – advertising in presidential elections –
uninformative advertising – paid search advertising.
4 Branding Store brands – brand extension – optimal branding – brand positioning – brand licensing – brand
anthropomorphization – brand attitudes – foreign brand – brand equity – brand concepts – brand
love – brand acquisition – brand personality – copycat brands – brand rating – brand satiation –
consumption based cross-brand learning – alphanumeric brand names – brand dilution.
5 Research Improving preauch diffusion forcasts: using synthetic networks as stimulated priors – fussing
methods aggregate and dis aggregate data with an application to multiplatform media consumption –
spotlights, floodlights, and the magic number zero: simple effects test in moderated regression –
quantitative trendspotting – misresponse to reversed and negated items in surveys – complexity
effects in choice experiment-based model – respond subistitution in consumer surveys –
measurement of consumer’s willingness to pay – cumulative timed intent: new predictive tol for
technology adotion – mindset metrics in market response model – structural equation modeling
– analysing moment-to-moment using Bayesian functional linear model – model selection using
database charactersitics – multactivity latent attrition model for customer base analysis –
methods from sampling responses from large scale quantitative data – Copual modeling of
marketing data.
6 Promotion Competitive promotional strategies – celebrity endorsement – word-of- mouth generation –
online communications – negative publicity – free-product samples – trade promotions –
customer referral programs – shelf displays – multichannel communication – price promotion –
consumer communication – contest design – sample experiential – products – sales promotion –
reference group messages - discount pricing promotion.
7 Pricing Price elasticity – pricing strategy – reference price – price presentation – price estimation – price
completion – price discounts – price framing – competitive non-linear pricing – dynamics of
pricing – price fairness – price image – multicomponent-systems pricing – pricing of used goods
– uniform price – quality discounts – pricing multistage customized online bundles – optimal
reverse pricing mechanism – price promotion – retail pricing –price precision.

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8 Product Strategies for innovation – cocreation – product line design – new product introduction – new
development product preannouncement – technological innovation – labeling – new product diffusion –
private labels – consumer’s innovation perceptions – product development team – new product
development stages – sales person influence on product development – raw ideas in innovation
– diffusion of consumer packaged goods – forecasting marketing-mix responsiveness for new
products – new product introduction.
9 Marketing Demarketing to manage customer quality inferences – implementing changes in marketing
management strategy – competition in status goods market – model-based segmentation – dynamic marketing
budgeting – aggressive marketing strategy – targeting revenue leaders – usage of marketing
metrics.
10 Sales and Bonuses versus commissions – reciprocity – cross-selling – sales force compensation – personal
sales selling elasticities – effect of marketing strategy on brand sales – sales team performance – sales
management reps follow ups – levels of sales person customer orientation – motivating sales people –
energizing reseller’s sales force – bonus and sales productivity.
11 Retailing Wal-Mart’s impact on supplier profits – online retailing – service allocations – retail chain –
impact of Wal-Mart on incumbent retailers reactions and their sales outcomes – store
remodeling – retail category management – optimizing retail assortments – retailer shelf layout
– retail driven product bundle.
12 Channels of Punishment in distribution network – partially integrated channel – customer channel choice –
distribution perceived unfairness of channels of distribution – distributor’s changing motivation –
information acquisition and sharing in vertical relationship.
13 Value Unintended value – effect of chief marketing officer on firm value – queuing and value of
creation products – customer value maximizing sweepstake and contests – value creation through major
channel expansions – creating major innovativeness with customers – customer participation in
value creation – value creation and profits – exclusive channels.
14 Customer Customer satisfaction and firm value – shapping customer satisfaction through self-awareness
satisfaction cuses – customer satisfaction heterogeneity and shareholder value – impact of feature
alignability on satisfaction – effects of customer satisfaction on customer spending – customer
satisfaction effects on domestic product purchase – customer satisfaction and repurchase link –
customer satisfaction survey responses – satisfying choice model – strategic influence of
customer satisfaction.
15 Services and Service innovativeness – optimizing service productivity – can stressed employees deliver better
service customer service – service revolution.
quality
16 Competitive Competition and its impact on paid-search advertising – supplier competition – downstream
analysis competition – competition in customer shopping experience – competing for low-end-markets –
retail competition.
17 Customer Customer management dilemma – relationship velocity – customer portfolio.
relationship
management
18 International Conflict management in franchise relationships – marketing channels in foreign markets – ex
marketing post behavior in franchise channel relationship – foreign marketing adaptation – international
marketing alliances – marketing budget allocations across countries.
19 Social Social responsibility – corporate social responsibility – sustainability reliability.
responsibility
20 Customer Customer loyalty – item-based loyalty program – store loyalty – brand switching.
loyalty
21 Marketing Customer bill of rights – unhealthy food – products with ethical attributes – healthy eating.
ethics
22 Others Ovulatory cycle – return migration performances – disfluency signals – procurement auctions –
tariff structure – saving behavior – data-based decision making.

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7. Findings and Conclusions

a. There was a high interest from researchers in some few themes of the research in marketing such as: consumer
behavior, e-marketing, promotion, and pricing. This may be normal, taking into account that the consumer
behavior research is a base of setting marketing strategies that match the consumer’s decision making process
and the factors that influence his/her decisions. The e-marketing’s worldwide orientation is still a new strategy in
contemporary marketing that attracts the curiosity of researchers to give more concern to its related topics.
Additionally, themes of promotion and advertising are cornerstones in any marketing programs, and researchers
will not stop investigating them.
b. Researchers did not give much concern to some important themes in marketing, including: marketing ethics,
social responsibility, international marketing, competitive analysis, service activities, and quality of service, in
spite of the importance of these themes in the contemporary marketing theory, especially in the fields of
consumer protection, social roles of Businesses, international trade relations, the business wars, and the service
sector all over the world.
c. Research interests for each journal are different from the other. It seems that the Journal of Marketing Research
gave high priority to studies on consumer behavior, while the Marketing Science journal gave its highest
research priority to e-marketing. On the other hand, there was a relative balance in the marketing themes of
research interests in the Journal of Marketing; as there is a more balanced distribution of the research themes
compared to the other two journals.
d. The focus of marketing journals on specific marketing themes may encourage the researches to do research on
those themes and neglect others. The journals might make some balance among the different, but integrated,
marketing themes. Hence, the research themes could be done up to the researchers’ interests as long as they are
related to the marketing theory and practice.
8. Limitations
Classifying the article topic on the selected major themes of the research is just a personal judgement of the
researcher who tried - as possible - to focus on the main topic of the article to avoid the interrelationship of each
article topic with different themes.
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